Articles by Grist staff

Tim McCormick, public transit evangelist, answers questions

What environmental organization are you affiliated with? I’m planning manager at the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. It provides public transit for the state of Rhode Island. What do you really do, on a day-to-day basis? My job is really about being a liaison between the public and the bus system. Bus systems are not […]

Sprawl the Right Moves

Urban Planner Seeks New Vocabulary to Describe Sprawl Delores Hayden, a Yale professor of architecture, urbanism, and American studies, found herself struggling when she tried to describe the characteristic features of the sprawling suburbs surrounding American cities — features that are now ubiquitous but which have emerged so quickly, historically speaking, that our ability to […]

The Price Isn’t Right

Gas Prices Not At Record High — and Proposed Solutions Wouldn’t Lower Them Gasoline prices have become a political hot potato in this election season, but most analysts agree there is very little substance behind the sound and fury. Current gas prices, hovering around $2 per gallon, do not constitute a “record high.” Adjusted for […]

Oh Riley?

West’s Water Woes Put Spotlight on Bush Water Czar When the Bush administration appointed Bennett Riley to oversee both the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Reclamation, environmentalists feared the worst. Riley, a cowboy-turned-lawyer and longtime advocate for property rights and against government regulation, hardly seemed like an auspicious choice for water czar. But […]